Bittered Soul
by Just Another Fanatic
Summary: It has been eight years since Octavian had moved to the Sydney Institute. Eight years since he had seen his siblings. And he's changed. He is a Blackthorn, and he needs to show the world what that means. But suddenly, his past catches up with him when Dru tracks him down and wants him to come home with her. But he has a new home, and no trust in those he had once called family
1. Eight Years Later

**I** **figured that Tavvy doesn't get too much attention, as he's only seven. So, I decided to explore his future. LoS spoilers.**

* * *

Eight Years Later

Octavian Blackthorn didn't know his family very well. After all, he was just seven when he was ripped away from them.

He hadn't been at the meeting of the Council, hadn't seen Anabel kill first the Inquisitor, and then his sister. Hadn't known that, as he played with the blue boy and the one that didn't speak English, things would never get back to normal.

Mayrse, the woman that was watching him, glanced out the window as Tavvy showed Max and Rafe a simple hand-clap game. Max kept getting the claps mixed up and Rafe mispronounced every word. But, that didn't matter. He was still having fun.

"Hey, boys," Maryse said, suddenly having gone still. "Let's play hide-and-seek." She turned to Rafe and said what Tavvy assumed the same words in Spanish. "I'm only counting to ten, so hurry up."

Max and Rafe sped off, but Tavvy didn't know the house very well. He liked hide-and-seek, however, though he hadn't played in a long time. The last time had been with the girls, Dru, Emma, and Livvy. Livvy always had the best hiding spots and Emma was the best at seeking. That had been before even meeting Christina. But, Tavvy ran further into the house, looking for a place to hide.

He heard the knocking on the front door, and the voices outside, but didn't hear the specific words. Something about Downworlders and Annabel and the Inquisitor. He heard Maryse yell, and knew that she was trying to send the people away, but heard fighting and knew they were inside. Tavvy knew that hiding wasn't a game, but he wondered if the other two boys realized what was happening. He didn't know where they were, but he also had to hide.

Tavvy found a room with a bed high off the ground, but the skirt fell to the floor. He easily slipped under it, and pushed himself as close to the wall as he began to shake. He knew, however, that when the skirt was flipped up, whether in a minute or an hour, it would be the smiling face of one of his siblings. Maybe Mark would slip in with him and question what he was doing. Or Julian would hold out his arms, welcoming Tavvy to come out. Possibly even Dru, who would smile and tell him it was his turn to seek.

He heard heavy footfalls enter the room. "Come out, little ones," said a voice. He recognized it, one of the Centurions. One of the ones that the others didn't like. The one with the twin brother.

A second pair of footsteps joined in the room. "Others are coming." It was the twin brother. "Those for Downworlder rights. We have to leave."

"In a moment," the woman said. Before Tavvy could react someone had reached under the bed, grabbed his wrist and pulled him out. Tavvy cried out, but no one came to rescue him. "Shut up!" the woman yelled, and then she pushed him into her brother's arms.

Tavvy tried to kick and fight, but he was small and young. They passed Maryse who was passed out on the floor, a bit of blood oozing from her head. Another Shadowhunter was leaning over her with a stele, and when the rune was finished, the bleeding slowed.

"Now," Zara said to him after he was taken to the Dearborn home, "you're really the only one that can be saved." She paced back and forth in front of him, muttering things he didn't understand while he tried not to cry. What did 'tainted' mean? Where were his siblings? Julian and Livvy and Ty and Dru and Mark?

Every time he asked, she yelled at him, harshly, that they would ruin him. And then he did cry.

A day after that, he was placed with a different family, at a different Institute, this one in Sydney, Australia. It was a whole new world, and though they spoke English, they definitely spoke funny.

The Copperhills weren't mean. They had a daughter just a year younger and boy two older, so he had others to play with. But they were strict. Up at six every morning. Bathed, beds made, and ready to eat by seven. They prayed there, and Tavvy lost a few snacks for not properly praying first.

He began training when he was nine, two years with no contact from his family. He didn't know what had happened to them. As far as he knew, they had abandoned him. However, he was a Blackthorn, and he knew that meant something. So, when he trained, he trained hard, and he quickly surpassed Ian Copperhill. Though, the two still got along very well. And when Tavvy was fourteen and Ian sixteen, they became Parabatai.

By that time, he was used to being called Octavian, and only Missy Copperhill called him Tavvy sometimes.

Octavian always kept quiet when discussing Downworlders. They all knew that he had two siblings that were half-fae, and because of that, he could never quite agree with all the beliefs of the Copperhills about the 'scurge.' He did, however, remember his near fatal encounter with a warlock.

It was just after a successful patrol when he was fifteen that he returned to the Institute with Ian to find a slightly familiar face standing in the entrance hall. He was laughing with Ian about the shock of the demon they had slayed, opened the door, and there stood a woman, short black hair and blue-green eyes. She stood tall, very much so, and Octavian could tell that she had slimmed down, though she still had more curves than the average Shadowhunter woman.

"Dru," he said and stood still.

"Tavvy!" Dru cried and came for him, wrapping her arms around him. He was just short of her height, he realized, but knew that he would soon be taller, as he still had a few years of growing to go.

"What are you doin' here?" He asked. He knew that he must sound different, having lost his LA accent years ago and picked up an Australian one.

She released him, stepping back. He could see on her face that she realized that he hadn't returned the hug.

Ian lightly elbowed him. "Been holding back on me, mate?" He asked. "You got yourself a girl?" He stepped forward and offered a hand. "Ian Copperhill," he said. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"This is Dru," Octavian said, still not turning his eyes from her. "And she's not my girl, she's my sister." The last word felt weird to him. He never forgot that he had a sister. Three, in fact. But he hadn't seen Dru in eight years, and Helen even longer. He had learned, somewhere along the line, that Livvy had died. He also knew that she had died when he was seven and he hadn't learned until over a year later.

Ian's amber eyes widened. "Well then, that changes things."

"She's four years older than you," Octavian said.

"All the more gorgeous," Ian said.

"Would you stop hitting on her?" Octavian finally turned to his Parabatai.

Ian lifted his hands. "Okay, okay, I got it," he said. "I'll leave you two to it, then." With that, he walked off.

"What are you doing here?" He asked once he was sure Ian was gone.

"What do you mean, Tavvy?" Dru asked. She had looked annoyed by Ian, but concern took her features at his question. "I've come to take you home. To Blackthorn manor."

Octavian looked away. "Why would I want to go there?" He asked. "There's nothing for me there."

"We are," Dru argued, placing her hand on his shoulder. He shook it off. "What's wrong, Tavvy?"

He tried hard to hold back his tears, but his eyes were burning. "You guys abandoned me," he shouted. "I haven't gotten so much as a letter from you for eight years." She took a step back, looking shocked. "I like it here. Ian's my Parabatai and Tara and Missy..." He thought about all the others in the Enclave. Tara Clearbrook and her parents, who were always so nice and took him out on their boat on the weekends after church. There were the Snowglens, the three kids and Autumn who taught all the kids of the Enclave. And then there was Fawn Truwind, with her eyes that matched the water and the silky brown hair. If he left, how would he tell her his feelings.

"Tavvy," Dru argued gently. "We didn't abandon you. They separated us. Ty and Kit and I were thrown in the Academy. Julian got slammed for what happened. Cristina was ordered to go back to Mexico. Emma and Mark were both exiled. We've only just been able to reclaim the Manor, though Mark is stuck in England and not allowed to be more than two kilometers from the Blackthorn Manor there. We wanted to come for you, but they wouldn't tell us where you were. Jia Penhallow used every connection she still had after being voted out of Consul to find you for us."

"Well, it was a poor use of her connections," Octavian said. "It's been a long night, I'm going to bed." He stalked past her toward the stairs. He was aware as Dru followed him up the spiral staircase for three flights, though she didn't talk.

"You can go now," Octavian said when he got to his floor.

"I'm not leaving without you," she said.

He growled a bit. "The only one of you that has a real excuse of not seeing me for the last eight years is Livvy," he snapped. He knew it was a slap in her face, she had seen Livvy die. But, he didn't care. He also knew it wasn't true. If Mark had been under an essential house arrest and Dru and Ty at the Academy, they wouldn't have had an easy time coming for him. He assumed that Helen was still at Wrangel Island, and he could only imagine what Julian had been through.

In the months after the fateful day Octavian had been taken away, the Cohort had gotten a lot more power. The new Consul was neutral, but the Downworlders had been constricted. There was a registry, but only for Warlocks, as it was impossible to track down every vampire, werewolf or fairy. The Seelie Court and Unseelie Court declared war on one another, little of which had spilt into the mortal world, but it had reduced the fairy population by at least a third.

However, hunting Downworlders suspected of unlawful activity was open game. Ian and Missy spied on werewolves and vampires all the time waiting for one to break a law, something that Octavian avoided. He had once had to kill a vampire, but the idiot had decided that a park was a great place to find fresh blood and had nearly killed an unwilling victim.

He didn't slam his door. That would only get his a hard slap across his back with a paddle, which he had a few scars from the past. It wasn't a punishment reserved for him. Ian had been slapped with the paddle more times than Octavian could count, for more offenses than Octavian knew existed. Slamming a door was just one of them. However, he did lock the door, which he wasn't supposed to do.

Once alone, he shucked off his gear and looked at himself in the mirror. It had been eight years since he had seen a sibling, but his memories were rushing back to him. He studied his eyes, the same color as most of his siblings. He recalled that Ty had grey eyes, but his were the Blackthorn blue-green. He also had dark hair that fell in curls, though he usually kept it cut short. He had grown strong since he had been in Sydney. But, thinking about his family, looking in the mirror, he realized that Dru would never have mistaken him for anyone but who he was. He looked just like Julian at age fifteen.

It took him a few minutes to tear his eyes from the mirror and get to bed.


	2. The Next Morning

**So, I noticed a major error in the second word of the last chapter, but that has been amended. Sorry for anyone that got confused but plowed on ahead... or the people that decided I was an idiot. Anyway, hope you enjoy.**

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The Next Morning

At five-thirty when Octavian woke the next morning after a turbulent sleep filled with his usual nightmares, he found Dru asleep on the floor across the hall from his room. He was reminded of when Kit had first come to the LA Institute and Ty had slept outside his room.

With a heavy sigh, he closed his door, but didn't lock it, and got ready for the day.

"Octavian, why don't you introduce us to your guest," Aubrey Copperhill said at the kitchen table when they all gathered for breakfast. They had apparently provided a room for Dru, and why she hadn't slept in it, Octavian had no idea.

"This is my sister, Drusilla Blackthorn," Octavian said, gesturing to her. He really wanted to say that she wasn't his _guest_ so much as an intrusion on his otherwise peaceful life, but the Copperhills really would not like that and consider it a punishable offense. So, he played along. "Dru, you remember Ian." Ian smiled and wiggled his eyebrows. "These are Missy, Aubrey, and Timothy Copperhill."

"A pleasure to meet you all," Dru said smiling at them.

"You as well, Drusilla," Aubrey said with a polite nod.

Timothy held up his hands, as did the rest of the Copperhills and Octavian. They grabbed hands. Octavian waited for Dru to grab his hand, but she didn't. After a moment, he reached across the table to take Missy's hand. They didn't force their guests to pray with them.

Prayer was silent, but Octavian thanked God and Jesus in his head, silently mouthing the words. After a moment, Timothy said "Amen" and they repeated and released hands.

"Since when do you pray?" Dru asked Octavian quietly.

"Since I was seven," he replied. "When my family abandoned me and I was left with God and Jesus to look to."

Dru stared at him. "We didn't abandon you," she said sternly, but kept her voice down.

Octavian held out a plate to her. "Fried tomatoes?" He didn't argue with her, just brushed it off. He hadn't seen her for over eight years and wasn't in the mood to argue at the breakfast table. Especially not in front of the Copperhills.

Dru looked at them, then shook her head. "No, thanks."

Octavian shrugged, forked a couple onto his plate, and passed the rest to Ian, who just dumped what was left on his plate.

"Ian, try to show some restraint," Aubrey said.

"What, they're good," he said with a bright smile.

"Will you be attending church with us at nine?" Missy asked Dru halfway through the breakfast. Missy, like her brother and mother, had bright amber eyes, however where Ian's hair had a sandy color to it, Missy's was pale blonde. Octavian always was reminded of Emma when he saw her from behind, though Missy was much smaller and not nearly as talented.

"She's not a church goer," Octavian answered before she could speak. Honestly, he didn't want her there. He took his religion seriously, it having been a part of him since he was seven. Dru wouldn't feel the same, and he'd be distracted by her.

"I'll just stay here, but thank you," she said. She smiled. "You don't happen to know of any Internet cafe's nearby, do you? I need to send a couple of e-mails."

Octavian sighed as the Copperhills stared at her. They didn't have a computer, even as they were becoming more popularized in Institutes. "Just use your phone to locate one," he said. "Or Fire-messages work just as well."

"It's still yesterday in New York," Dru said. "And the middle of the night in Idris and London."

Octavian rolled his Blackthorn eyes. "Don't bother telling them you found me," he said standing. "It's not like Julian or Mark can come anyway and I'm not in the mood to see Ty."

"Well, I'm sure they'd like to know where I am," Dru said.

"I'm going to get changed for Church," Octavian said to the Copperhills. He began out of the room and Dru followed.

"Come on, Tavvy, don't you want to know how everyone is doing?"

"Not really," Octavian said. "And don't call me Tavvy. I stopped being your 'Tavvy' long ago."

"Missy called you Tavvy," Dru argued.

"Well, Missy is like a little sister for me," Octavian said. "You understand that, right? What it's like to have a younger sibling? Or have you forgotten?"

"That's unfair," Dru said. "You know I would have been there for you if I could have."

"No, I don't know that," Octavian said. "I hardly know you, Dru. You're my sister, but that doesn't mean much to me anymore." He closed the door to his room and leaned against it. He really didn't know how to handle having Dru around. Was he supposed to be glad that she came to see him? She wanted to take him back to Idris, and she was certainly old enough to be his legal guardian, but he wondered if she had the authority to. He wondered if she could force him, or even if she would.

He forced himself to stop thinking about that as he pulled out his church clothes. Pressed Khaki pants, a long sleeve button-up, dark blue blazer, and a blue-green tie that Aubrey had gotten him for his last birthday. He held up the tie, looking at it. It was the color of his eyes, the Blackthorn eyes, and he had worn it to church every time since he had received it. Thinking of Dru, probably still standing outside his door, he exchanged it for a red one.

"Don't you look handsome," he heard a voice when he stepped out of his room. However, it wasn't Dru. It was Tara Clearbrook.

Tara reminded Octavian of Emma, but more of who Emma was, as best he could remember, rather than like how Missy reminded him of Emma with her hair. There as a spunk to Tara that the other girls didn't possess. Granted, spunk in the Enclave was severely lacking. Tara was all muscle on a tall thin frame with chopped black hair and chocolate eyes. She didn't live at the Institute, but rather only a few blocks away. She attended church, but always sat in the back row on the aisle so she could escape quickly when the service was over and always changed outfits by the time anyone else from the Enclave was out.

However, at the moment, she was in her nice church clothes. Black knee-length skirt and a white button-up with long sleeves. "So, who was the click that I saw down the hall?"

"Excuse me?" Octavian asked.

"Tall woman with black hair," Tara said. She smirked and took a step closer. "Don't tell me someone actually fell for Ian."

"No," Octavian shook his head. "That was Dru."

"Dru...?" Tara wanted details.

"Drusilla Blackthorn," Octavian said slowly.

Tara gasped and looked past Octavian down the hall as if to see if Dru would reappear. "Is she a cousin or something?"

"Or something," Octavian said, avoiding Tara's eyes. He slipped past her toward the front door. He'd wait outside for the rest of the church party to arrive so they could all walk together.

"Something?" Tara asked following him. "What kind of something? Are you secretly married, Blue Ring?" She poked fun at him more than Ian did.

"No, I'm not," Octavian said glancing back at her. "She's my sister."

He could hear as Tara stopped walking. "What do you mean your sister?" Tara asked loudly. "I thought she died."

"One did," Octavian said, turning back to look at Tara. Her brown eyes stared wide at him. "This one is the youngest of my sisters... still six years older than I am." He turned back around. "You did know I have siblings."

"Yeah, but I didn't know much about them," Tara said.

"Don't worry, Tara," Octavian said. "You're still one of my best friends."

"I had better be, Blue Ring," Tara said skipping to catch up with him. She looped one of her arms around his.

* * *

Dru looked at the cathedral as the others all filed in. She had pulled on her most modest clothes, which was still more casual than Missy and Aubrey's casual clothes. She shook her head. Having a warlock make a portal for her was one thing. However, attending a service that he knew nothing about was not about to happen.

"I'll just wait for you," she called. Missy waved, but Octavian didn't bother even turning around. She sighed. He was icing her out.

She figured that she'd find something else to do while they were in church. She wandered around looking for a place that would at least have free wi-fi... and accept credit as she didn't have any Australian money. Julian paid off her credit card as she had spent the last three years searching for Octavian, and hunting Annabel, as he couldn't do either, stuck in New York. Technically, Dru was given control of the Blackthorn fortune, or at least half of it. As Julian, Mark and Helen were all in exile and Ty was considered to have a 'condition,' Dru was the first that the Clave trusted with the Blackthorn name and therefore money. The other half was being saved for Octavian.

She finally found a small shop that served coffee. There was a cute barista at the counter, so she took a seat on a stool there. "Do you guys serve cappuccinos?" she asked.

The guy looked at her. "Not to your type, we don't," he said. He snarled and Dru knew he was a werewolf. "Shouldn't you be at church?"

Dru felt her mouth drop open. "I'm a Blackthorn," she said. Usually, when she told that to Downworlders, they knew that she was against the Cohort.

"And that matters?" he asked. "You think you're name means anything to me?"

"Rick, stop that," an older man sitting a few stools down said. He looked at Dru. "She aligns herself with the Herondales, the Lightwoods, and the Fairchilds." He nodded. "Don't you."

"Exactly," she said. "And the Carstairs."

"Ah, yes, how could I have forgotten about the Carstairs," he asked. "Give her a cappuccino, on me."

"Are you sure, gramps?" Rick asked.

"Add a bit of cinnamon on top," Gramps added. He gestured to Dru to sit next to him, so she did. "So, I assume that you are Octavian Blackthorn's sister?"

Dru nodded. "Though I hardly recognize the person he's become," she admitted.

"Ah, well, he was only a small child when he was brought here," Gramps said. He stretched out a hand. "I am Josh Lyons. And that is my ignorant grandson, Rick."

"Drusilla Blackthorn," Dru said, taking his hand and shaking it. "But call me Dru."

"I do like Drusilla," Josh said. "Are you coming to collect your brother?"

"If he'll let me," she said. "I mean, I won't force him."

"One cappuccino," Rick said placing a mug in front of her. She was used to paper cups so she was a little surprised that it was in a mug.

She took a sip, then sighed. "Oh, I so needed this," she said. "I spent the whole night awake."

"I suspect you came from Idris," Josh said. "The time difference can disorient someone."

Dru nodded and took another sip. "This is so good, Rick," she added.

He smiled. "Well, I hate to brag, but I make the best cup in this city. We mostly don't let your kind in her, but Tara Clearbrook is okay."

Dru liked Josh and Rick. They didn't mind trash-talking the Clave, and make fun of Shadowhunters, even knowing who she was. And they gave her some insight on the Enclave of Sydney. There were sixteen Shadowhunters in it, though three were too young to fight and two were just starting to patrol and only with adults.

After a second cappuccino, also paid for by Josh, Dru pulled out her phone and began composing an e-mail to Julian. She knew Ty was at the manor in Idris with no internet access, and hoped that Julian would send him a fire message. She also didn't e-mail Mark. Mark would break his exile, and then he'd be in even more trouble with the Clave. They might banish him and strip him of his runes. E-mailing him had to be careful. She'd wait until she could at least convince her brother to visit Mark in London.

* * *

When the service was over, Octavian was surprised that Dru wasn't waiting out front. He frowned a bit.

"The water's a bit rocky today," Tara said, already changed into capris and a baby tee. She was looking at her phone. "Dad says the boat isn't a good idea."

"Then a picnic it is," Timothy said. He put a hand on each of his children's shoulders. "Shall we find a good place to set up?" Everyone agreed and they began toward the Institute and their cars.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to track down my sister," Octavian said. He looked around. "It's a big city and she could get lost."

"She is an adult," Timothy said. "But we will text you when we've chosen a park."

Octavian nodded. He turned down the street he had spotted her go down as he was entering the cathedral. A moment later, Tara and Ian were with him.

"Don't think you can get on without us," Ian said. "We'll help you find your hottie of a sister."

"And I'm mostly here to keep him in line," Tara said. She winked at Octavian. "We both know what he's like."

Octavian smirked. "Thanks, but I think I can handle it," he said. "I mean, I may not have seen her in eight years, but she's still my sister. If I know her, she'd end up in the first cafe that has Downworlders in it."

"Oh, then I know exactly where to go," Tara said.

Ian frowned. "Really? Downworlders? Is she hunting for illegal activity?"

"No," Octavian said. "She probably wants a coffee." He glanced at Tara. "You know of a Downworlder shop?"

"And it's not far," she said, stopping and pointing across the street. "Moon Coffee. The drinks are fantastic, even if the service could use some improvement." She turned to Ian. "You stay out here. I don't want to be banned."

"What am I going to do to get banned?" Ian asked.

"Talk," Octavian said. "You can't open your mouth without saying something bad about Downworlders."

"Exactly," Tara said. "Come along, Octavian. If your sister is in here, we'll see her right off." She started off crossing the street, not even looking for oncoming cars and Octavian was certain that she'd get hit, but she managed to make it across safely. She turned to him and waved for him to follow. "Come on, Blue Ring. The shop isn't coming to you."

He sighed and carefully crossed the street, dodging a few cars as he did. By the time he made it across, Tara was already walking into the cafe. There were a few werewolves and a warlock sitting around having coffee... and one Drusilla Blackthorn.

"Rick, one coffee, black," Tara said, sitting next to Drusilla. "And whatever the kid wants." She nodded her head toward Octavian.

"Tea, please," Octavian said. Dru's head snapped up.

"Hey, you're out of church already?" She asked, getting up and giving him a hug, one which he did not return.

"It's noon," Octavian said. "How long do you think the service is?"

Dru smiled at him brightly. "Have you met Josh and Rick before?"

"I have," Tara said as Rick put her coffee in front of her.

"Nope," Octavian said. "I'm just here for a tea and to make sure you're not lost. I feel responsible for you."

Rick snorted. "Isn't she your older sister, kid?"

"That may be, but this is a city she's not used to," Octavian said.

Dru stared at Octavian. "Tavvy, this isn't that big of a city," she said. "We grew up in Los Angeles. And I jump between New York and London a lot. All three are bigger. And Lima too. Another bigger city."

Octavian stared at her for a minute. "Don't call me Tavvy," he said, before taking a seat next to Tara. Dru sighed, but took her seat back.

"So, you're his sister, right?" Tara said, a smile crawling onto her lips.


End file.
